Request for advice on whale watching trip from Redcliffe (Brisbane)

[nardes]

Hi there!

We are thinking of heading out on a whale watching trip from Redcliffe, with Brisbane Whale Watching, on their catamaran ‘Eye Spy’ one day in July.

Just wondering if anyone can offer some advice on the best location for photography on this vessel. Acknowledging there are a number of variables, such a 3 decks, fore, aft, port, starboard positions, number of passengers, whale appearance (or not!) and their positions, etc. has anyone got any advice/recommendations on say, which deck to shoot from?

The most obvious seems the top deck, but looking at a photo of the vessel, if the whales are very close, then the view could be blocked by the superstructure, crowds below, etc.

Any advice or comments on your own experience would be greatly appreciated.

In terms of equipment (Canon 7D with 70-200 F4L) and settings, I was thinking along the lines of ISO 400, F8 at 1/1600 sec as a starting point. I may take the EOS-M for close ups if the whales cooperate.

Cheers

Dennis